MODEM, IN PARTICULAR FOR SUBSEA POWER LINE COMMUNICATION

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a modem, in particular for subsea power line communication, comprising electronic components on a circuit board, and a metal encapsulation.

[0002] Subsea power line communication is a special form of underwater communication. It is preferably used in exploring and exploiting gas and oil fields located at the seabed. Subsea communication is used, for example, for transmitting various data between topside control sites and subsea wellheads. Gas and oil fields that are explored or exploited using electronic communication to the wellheads or to other electronic equipment are sometimes called "electronic fields" (e-fields).

[0003] In prior art, different techniques for subsea communication have been described. On the one hand, there are wired electric or optical connections, on the other hand there are wireless connections. The wired connections can be subdivided into a first group providing communication lines for electronic or optical connections separate from electric power lines, and a second group utilising power lines for electronic communications. In the latter case, advantageously no separate communication lines are needed.

[0004] For example, in US 2005/0243983 A1, a modem for receiving and transmitting data from and to a conductor is described. It comprises an output drive for transmitting data to the conductor, a receiver for receiving data from the conductor and impedance matching means for matching an impedance of a receiver input with an impedance of the conductor. A gain of the output drive, a receiver gain and the impedance of the receiver input are adjustable at this modem.

[0005] Modems typically use a printed circuit board (PCB) onto which electronic components such as integrated circuits (IC) are mounted. These components usually are sensitive to electromagnetic radiation, in particular to radiation in the radio frequency (RF) range, resulting in electronic interference and noise. As a consequence, the bit rate and the operational range of a modem connection are affected by the extent of radiation its electronic components are exposed to. The negative impact of radiation is even increased as the tracks connecting the electronic components act as receiving aerials. Therefore, the electronic components and the printed circuit board are sought to be shielded against radiation.

[0006] The known modems for subsea power line communication use a metal box that entirely surrounds their printed circuit board to shield the electronic components and the tracks between them from external radio frequency radiation. However, the possible bit rate and the possible operational range of these modems is limited because of the limited shielding properties of the metal box encapsulation.

[0007] Document GB 2355595 A discloses a shielding radio frequency electronic apparatus. An apparatus is disclosed which has modules operating at radio frequencies with components mounted on a common circuit board contained in a conductive case. The components of each module are contained by internal partition walls.

[0008] The document US 5 010 529 A discloses an underwater signal apparatus including a waterproof housing having two chambers. In one chamber, a transducer and associated electrical circuitry is disposed, whereas in the other chamber, a battery for providing electrical power is arranged.

[0009] It is an object of the invention to specify a modem having improved shielding properties, thereby significantly reducing electronic interference and/or noise.

[0010] This problem is solved by a modem comprising the attributes given in claim 1.

[0011] Advantageous embodiments of the invention are given in the dependent claims.

[0012] The invention proposes that said encapsulation forms at least three chambers separated by at least one wall, wherein each of said chambers surrounds at least one of said electronic components. By this solution, the wall separating the chambers also separates the electronic components contained in the different chambers, thus providing improved shielding properties. Some of the electronic components themselves emit RF radiation affecting the others, resulting in electronic interference and noise as stated out above. This effect is significant in particular for modems using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). The proposed encapsulation not only shields the electronic components from external RF radiation, but also from each other, i. e., from internal RF radiation. As a consequence, the connection bit rate and operational range of the modem according to the invention are significantly increased in relation to prior art.

[0013] According to the invention, the first chamber surrounds analogue send and receive components, and the second chamber surrounds analogue-to-digital components and digital-to-analogue components, and the third chamber surrounds a high-frequency digital signal processor, a field programmable gate array and a DC/DC power supply. A minimum electronic interference is achieved by strictly separating the most critical components.

[0014] In an advantageous embodiment, said chambers are arranged at a first side of said circuit board. This provides a simple construction of the encapsulation and thus of the modem.

[0015] In an advanced embodiment, at least one of said chambers is continued at a second side of said circuit board. This implies that the separating wall is also continued at the second side, and that the circuit board subdivides said continued chamber into two parts. Thereby, said chamber entirely surrounds the at least one respective electronic component in the manner of a Faraday cage. This improves the shielding properties against RF radiation. Besides, the encapsulation and the modem can be constructed compactly as the printed circuit board is supported from two sides.

[0016] An optimal shielding is achieved with an embodiment, wherein at least the separating wall is in tight contact with the circuit board. Depending on the actual frequency of emitted radiation, the quality of the shielding degrades with the size of holes or gaps in the encapsulation. A strong shielding is achieved by a tight contact of the separating wall or even the whole encapsulation with the circuit board.

[0017] For an optimal shielding, the circuit board is provided at its surface with at least one metal contact zone for at least said separating wall. The board may have conducting tracks in its inner layers in parallel to said zones and contacted with them to even improve the shielding. This way, even the circuit board itself contributes to improve the shielding properties.

[0018] In a preferred embodiment, the encapsulation comprises a front cover, a one-piece front frame for the first side of said circuit board, a one-piece back frame for the second side of said circuit board, and a back cover. This kind of encapsulation is stable, easy to produce and easy to handle when mounting it to the circuit board. Besides, it provides a high-quality Faraday cage.

[0019] Advantageously, one plane side of each of said frames is entirely in tight contact with said circuit board. This allows for a stable and compact construction of the modem as the encapsulation acts as reinforcement to the circuit board.

[0020] In a special embodiment, said encapsulation comprises a metal body surrounding a power amplifier (PA) component. Power amplifiers emit large amounts of waste heat. By said metal body surrounding the power amplified, the power amplifier can be both cooled and additionally shielded. The metal body guides the waste heat to the outer surfaces of the encapsulation. In addition to the metal body which has no electrical contact to the power amplifier, the power amplifier may be directly connected with the outer encapsulation by a heat sink or a heat pipe that not touches the metal body. The heat pipe is galvanically insulated from the outer encapsulation.

[0021] Advantageously, the encapsulation consists of aluminium. This material is lightweight and conductive. Thus, it provides a high-quality Faraday cage at a low total weight of the modem.

[0022] For strong shielding properties and high stability of the encapsulation, the encapsulation preferably has a least thickness of 2 mm.

[0023] In the following, the invention is described in further detail with several drawings.

Fig. 1

shows a schematic front view of a generic modem with a basic encapsulation

Fig. 2

shows a block diagram of a subsea power line modem.

Fig. 3

shows a schematic front view of the subsea power line modem.

Fig. 4

shows a schematic back view of the subsea power line modem.

[0024] In all drawings, corresponding parts are denoted by identical reference signs.

[0025] Fig. 1 explains the principle of the invention. It schematically shows a modem 1, comprising a printed circuit board 2 equipped with a high-frequency digital signal processor 3 (DSP) and a power amplifier 4. Both electronic components are sensitive to electromagnetic RF radiation, but massively emit electromagnetic radiation themselves. A metal encapsulation 5, whose surface is opened in the figure, entirely surrounds the printed circuit board 2. The encapsulation 5 consists of two mirrored shells (not visible in the figure). Both shells comprise a respective bar, which, if the shells are assembled as shown, establish a wall 6. The wall 6 is continuous apart from a through hole (not visible) for the printed circuit board 2. Thus, the encapsulation 5, if assembled around the printed circuit board 2, forms a first chamber 7 and a second chamber 8 which are separated by the wall 6. Each chamber 7, 8 surrounds both the front side and the back side of the printed circuit board 2. The printed circuit board 2 is fixed between the shells by columns (not shown) that are part of the encapsulation 5 shells, and by the bars.

[0026] The encapsulation 5 comprising the wall 6 acts as a Faraday cage, electromagnetically shielding the digital signal processor 3 in the first chamber 7 from the radiation emitted by the power amplifier 4 in the second chamber 8 and vice versa. Besides, the encapsulation 5 shields both the digital signal processor 3 and the power amplifier 4 from external electromagnetic radiation. Hence, the risk of electronic interference and the noise in these electronic components are significantly reduced.

[0027] In Fig. 2, a block diagram of a subsea power line modem is shown. The modem 1 comprises a field programmable gate array 9 (FPGA), a digital signal processor 3, an analogue-to-digital processing line 10 and a digital-to-analogue processing line 11. An analogue-to-digital converter 12 (ADC) and a low-noise amplifier 13 (LNA) are part of the analogue-to-digital processing line 10. A digital-to-analogue converter 14 (DAC) and a power amplifier 4 are part of the digital-to-analogue processing line 11. Both processing lines 10 and 11 are connected with a diplexer 16 via a differential interface (not shown). By the diplexer 16, the modem is connectable to the subsea power line (not shown). The field programmable gate array 9 provides two independent bidirectional external serial interfaces, one RS-485 connection 17 connectable with a so-called PROFIBUS for binary payload data, and one RS-232 connection 18 for diagnostic data. The components are mounted on both sides of a single six-layer printed circuit board (not shown in this figure).

[0028] On the one hand, the field programmable gate array 9 creates an OFDM-modulated signal from the binary data obtained from the RS-485 connection 17 and, if required, from diagnostic data obtained from the RS-232 connection 18. These data are modulated onto the electric signal of the power line. On the other hand, the field programmable gate array 9 demodulates an OFDM-modulates signal obtained from the power line via the diplexer 16 into binary payload data, and, if necessary, into diagnostic data that are output to the RS-485 connection 17 and the RS-232 connection 18, respectively. As computation costs are high for OFDM the field programmable gate array 9 utilizes the digital signal processor 3 for both modulation and demodulation. The diplexer 16 is able to connect the RF modem 1 to both ends of a power line cable in such way that two modems 1 are able to communicate with each other while the cable is also used for power distribution.

[0029] With OFDM, which itself is known from television broadcasting, the transmitting modem sends on multiple different orthogonal frequencies called carrier bands or channels. Two carrier bands are said to be orthogonal if they are independent from each other regarding their relative phase relationship. The binary data is modulated onto the electric signal in the form of so-called OFDM symbols.

[0030] In Fig. 3, a schematic front view of the modem 1 of Fig. 2 is depicted. The electronic components are mounted on both sides of the six-layer printed circuit board 2 that has a size e.g. of 100 mm x 160 mm and exceeds the cross section of the encapsulation 5. Only two D-SUB ports 19 and 20 are arranged outside of the encapsulation 5. They externally provide the RS-485 connection and the RS-232 connection (not shown in this figure).

[0031] The encapsulation 5 consists of water-jet cut aluminium, comprising five parts: A one-piece front frame 5.1, a front cover (not shown), a one-piece back frame 5.2 (in this figure hidden behind the printed circuit board 2 - see Fig. 4), a back cover (not shown) and a one-piece metal body 5.3. All of said parts are provided with bores 22 to fixate them against the printed circuit board 2 by screws. The front frame 5.1 exhibits intermediate walls 6 that subdivide the interior of the front frame 5.1 into three separate chambers 7, 8 and 21. The first chamber 7 surrounds analogue send components, such as the power amplifier 4, and receive components, such as the low-noise amplifier 13. The second chamber 8 surrounds the analogue-to-digital converter 12 and the digital-to-analogue converter 14 as well as a low-noise amplifier 13. The third chamber 21 surrounds the digital signal processor 3, the field programmable gate array 9 and a DC/DC power supply 23. The metal body 5.3 surrounds only the power amplifier 4 within the first chamber 7.

[0032] The front frame 5.1, the back frame 5.2 and the covers have a least thickness of 2 mm. The front frame 5.1 has e.g. a height of 20 mm. The back frame 5.2 has e.g. a height of 5 mm. The front frame 5.1 is mounted by screws that are fastened thoroughly through the bores 22 of back cover, back frame 5.2, printed circuit board 2, and into the front frame 5.1. Hence, both frames 5.1, 5.2 are entirely in tight contact with the printed circuit board 2. The front cover is mounted directly onto the front frame 5.1 by screws through the bores 22 of the front cover into the front frame 5.1. A heat conductive pad should be mounted exactly where the metal body 5.3 reaches the front cover. The metal body 5.3 is mounted around the power amplifier by screws through the printed circuit board 2 and into the metal body 5.3. The printed circuit board 2 is provided with metal contact zones in areas where the separating walls 6 touch it. The aluminium parts of the encapsulation 5 can be simply produced with the print card design of the printed circuit board 2.

[0033] On the back side of the printed circuit board 2, as shown in Fig. 4, the back frame 5.2 is a mirrored counterpart to the front frame 5.1. Thus, the three chambers 7, 8, 21 are continued to the back side of the printed circuit board 2. If the back and front covers are mounted, the encapsulation 5 comprising the chambers 7, 8, 21 and the metal body 5.3 act as an efficient Faraday cage as described above.

Claims

1. A modem (1), in particular for subsea power line communication, comprising electronic components (3, 4) on a circuit board (2), and a metal encapsulation (5), wherein said encapsulation (5) forms at least three chambers (7, 8, 21) separated by at least one wall (6), wherein each of said chambers (7, 8, 21) surrounds at least one of said electronic components (3, 4), characterised in that the first chamber (7) surrounds analogue send and receive components (4), and the second chamber (8) surrounds analogue-to-digital and digital-to-analogue components (12, 14), and the third chamber (21) surrounds a high-frequency digital signal processor (3), a field programmable gate array (9) and a DC/DC power supply (23) .

2. The modem (1) according to claim 1, wherein said chambers (7, 8) are arranged at a first side of said circuit board (2).

3. The modem (1) according to claim 2, wherein at least one of said chambers (7, 8) is continued at a second side of said circuit board (2).

4. The modem (1) according to claim 3, wherein the circuit board (2) subdivides said continued chamber (7, 8) into two parts.

5. The modem (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein at least said separating wall (6) is in tight contact with said circuit board (2).

6. The modem (1) according to claim 5, wherein the circuit board (2) is provided at its surface with at least one metal contact zone for at least said separating wall (6).

7. The modem (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said encapsulation (5) comprises a front cover, a one-piece front frame (5.1) for the first side of said circuit board (2), a one-piece back frame (5.2) for the second side of said circuit board (2), and a back cover.

8. The modem (1) according to claim 7, wherein one plane side of each of said frames (5.1, 5.2) is entirely in tight contact with said circuit board (2).

9. The modem (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said encapsulation (5) comprises a metal body (5.3) surrounding a power amplifier (4) component.

10. The modem (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the encapsulation (5) consists of aluminium.

11. The modem (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the encapsulation (5) has a least thickness of 2 mm.

Ansprüche

1. Modem (1), insbesondere für die Untersee-Stromleitungskommunikation, welches elektronische Bausteine (3, 4) auf einer Leiterplatte (2) und eine Metallkapselung (5) umfasst, wobei die besagte Kapselung (5) mindestens drei Kammern (7, 8, 21) bildet, die durch mindestens eine Wand (6) getrennt sind, wobei jede der besagten Kammern (7, 8, 21) mindestens einen der besagten elektronischen Bausteine (3, 4) umgibt, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die erste Kammer (7) analoge Sendeund Empfangsbausteine (4) umgibt und die zweite Kammer (8) Analog-Digital- und Digital-Analog-Bausteine (12, 14) umgibt und die dritte Kammer (21) einen digitalen Hochfrequenz-Signalprozessor (3), ein feldprogrammierbares Gate-Array (9) und eine DC/DC-Stromversorgung (23) umgibt.

2. Modem (1) nach Anspruch 1, wobei die besagten Kammern (7, 8) auf einer ersten Seite der besagten Leiterplatte (2) angeordnet sind.

3. Modem (1) nach Anspruch 2, wobei mindestens eine der besagten Kammern (7, 8) auf einer zweiten Seite der besagten Leiterplatte (2) fortgesetzt ist.

4. Modem (1) nach Anspruch 3, wobei die Leiterplatte (2) die besagte fortgesetzte Kammer (7, 8) in zwei Teile aufteilt.

5. Modem (1) nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, wobei sich mindestens die besagte Trennwand (6) in dichter Anlage an der besagten Leiterplatte (2) befindet.

6. Modem (1) nach Anspruch 5, wobei die Leiterplatte (2) an ihrer Oberfläche mit mindestens einem metallischen Kontaktbereich für mindestens die besagte Trennwand (6) versehen ist.

7. Modem (1) nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, wobei die besagte Kapselung (5) eine vordere Abdeckung, einen einteiligen vorderen Rahmen (5.1) für die erste Seite der besagten Leiterplatte (2), einen einteiligen hinteren Rahmen (5.2) für die zweite Seite der besagten Leiterplatte (2) und eine hintere Abdeckung umfasst.

8. Modem (1) nach Anspruch 7, wobei sich eine ebene Seite jedes der besagten Rahmen (5.1, 5.2) vollständig in dichter Anlage an der besagten Leiterplatte (2) befindet.

9. Modem (1) nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, wobei die besagte Kapselung (5) ein Metallgehäuse (5.3) umfasst, das einen Leistungsverstärkerbaustein (4) umgibt.

10. Modem (1) nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, wobei die Kapselung (5) aus Aluminium besteht.

11. Modem (1) nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, wobei die Kapselung (5) eine Mindestdicke von 2 mm aufweist.

Revendications

1. Un modem (1), en particulier pour une communication de ligne électrique sous-marine, comprenant des composants électroniques (3, 4) sur une carte à circuit imprimé (2) et une encapsulation métallique (5), dans lequel ladite encapsulation (5) forme au moins trois chambres (7, 8, 21) séparées par au moins une paroi (6), dans lequel chacune desdites chambres (7, 8, 21) entoure au moins un desdits composants électroniques (3, 4), caractérisé en ce que la première chambre (7) entoure des composants d'expédition et de réception analogiques (4), la deuxième chambre (8) entoure des composants analogique à numérique et numérique à analogique (12, 14) et la troisième chambre (21) entoure un processeur de signaux numériques haute fréquence (3), un réseau prédiffusé programmable par l'utilisateur (9) et une alimentation électrique c.c/c.c (23).

2. Le modem (1) selon la revendication 1, dans lequel lesdites chambres (7, 8) sont agencées sur un premier côté de ladite carte à circuit imprimé (2).

3. Le modem (1) selon la revendication 2, dans lequel au moins une desdites chambres (7, 8) est continue sur un deuxième côté de ladite carte à circuit imprimé (2).

4. Le modem (1) selon la revendication 3, dans lequel la carte à circuit imprimé (2) subdivise ladite chambre continue (7, 8) en deux parties.

5. Le modem (1) selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel au moins ladite paroi de séparation (6) est en contact étroit avec ladite carte à circuit imprimé (2).

6. Le modem (1) selon la revendication 5, dans lequel la carte à circuit imprimé (2) comprend sur sa surface au moins une zone de contact métallique pour au moins ladite paroi de séparation (6).

7. Le modem (1) selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel ladite encapsulation (5) comprend un panneau avant, un châssis avant d'une pièce (5.1) pour le premier côté de ladite carte à circuit imprimé (2), un châssis arrière d'une pièce (5.2) pour le deuxième côté de ladite carte à circuit imprimé (2), et un panneau arrière.

8. Le modem (1) selon la revendication 7, dans lequel un côté plan de chacun desdits châssis (5.1, 5.2) est entièrement en contact étroit avec ladite carte à circuit imprimé (2).

9. Le modem (1) selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel ladite encapsulation (5) comprend un corps métallique (5.3) entourant un composant amplificateur de puissance (4).

10. Le modem (1) selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel l'encapsulation (5) est en aluminium.

11. Le modem (1) selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel l'encapsulation (5) possède une épaisseur d'au moins 2 mm.

Drawing